Heart Fire
by Canomon
Summary: This is the (*hopefully* much-anticipated) sequal to "Flamedramon's Girl"/"Kristi's Flame". Basically, it's Kristi's return to the Digital World. The 3rd-person part should've been Flamedramon's POV, but I just couldn't seem to get in character (mentally)


Okay, disclaimer: I don't own Digimon

Okay, disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Believe me, if I owned Digimon, Flamedramon would show up a lot more often. 'Kay? On to the fic!

Heart Fire

* * * 

_I rolled over onto my side. I smiled, feeling the same happiness I always felt around Flame. It'd been a while since I'd last seen him. "Fools! Did you think you could run forever?" a loud voice challenged. The Digimon Emperor! We both sat up, and Flame looked twice as annoyed as I felt. The Digimon Emperor threw a Dark Ring at Flame, who turned and glared at me._

"Hey," I said. "Relax. Back off. Hey!" I jumped up in time to avoid a punch aimed for my face. "Cut it out, Flame! Stop! Don't you realize that he's controlling you?" I felt the same pained tears sting my eyes. "Please, Flame, listen to me!"

* * * 

I bolted upright in bed. My Pokémon covers were twisted around me, and my pillow was damp with tears and sweat. I wiped my eyes and looked at Sandy, who was staring at me with her brown doggie eyes. "I'm…I'm okay, San'y." I have a slight accent to my voice that makes my _D_s soft. She jumped onto my bed and licked my face. I patted my collarbone. The hard little crystal was still dangling from its cord. "Hey, girl, I'm okay now. It was just a nightmare," I said, feeling the same sad longing that the first part had been real, not just a dream. I ruffled her ears.

I stood up as I swung my legs over the side of my bed. Sandy followed me into the bathroom, her white paws making no sound on our thick grey carpet. I closed the door behind us and flicked on the light. I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I didn't look like I had before I'd met Flame. True, I still had a nearly oriental face with almond-shaped green eyes and a thin mouth, but I looked sadder. Older, too, maybe. My long brown hair was clinging to my face. I brushed it away.

"You were just dreaming. Go back to sleep," I told my reflection. "_Go back to sleep_." Sleep was something I didn't get much of anymore. I would just lie awake in my bed and stare at the wall, or the ceiling, or the little crystal on its braided cord I always hung around my neck, but I didn't sleep. When exhaustion finally took its toll and I fell asleep, I kept dreaming of Flame and the Digital World. Some dreams were really good, and when I woke from them I'd run them over and over in my mind. Most of them, though, were awful nightmares. I kept remembering the way the Digimon Emperor could just throw a Dark Ring and make any Digimon he chose into a slave who would do anything he was told.

I walked through the living room to the kitchen and sat at the table. I took my mom's torch and lit a candle. I held the little Flame Crystal up to it and watched the way the firelight was reflected around inside it. It only worked with fire, not sunshine or a flashlight. _Kristi! Can you hear me?_

"Nariko?" I whispered. Nariko is a mixture of human and Digimon, namely myself and Flamedramon. She's telepathic. '_What're you doing?_'

_Talking to you. Listen, go get dressed and then touch your computer's screen. It'll be easier for me to open the portal on there. Hurry up!_ I ran back to my room and threw on a pair of wind pants, a T-shirt with thin red, white, and blue strips, and a windbreaker jacket. I pulled a pair of socks on and pulled my sneakers on over them, tying the laces tightly. I pulled a small picture frame out from under my pillow and stuck it in my pocket, along with my little whistle. I brushed my hair as quickly as I could and pulled it up into a ponytail. I patted my leg for Sandy to follow me. I'd take her, too. I ran – well, walked quickly, actually, because to wake my parents was to ask for trouble – back to the game room and pressed my hand to the screen, keeping the other firmly on Sandy's faded pink collar.

'_Open. Open. Let me in. OPEN!_' I thought at it. '_Open, you _baka_ portal._' I felt really strange, then a bright light blinded me. I felt a falling sensation, but I couldn't be sure because the light was too bright for me to open my eyes and check. I gripped Sandy around her ribs now, to be sure we didn't get separated. "Take it easy, girl. Easy, San'y, _easy_." I felt solid ground under my feet and a fresh, cool breeze blowing. I opened my eyes carefully, to be sure I wasn't going to be blinded. I let Sandy down, and do you know what that crazy little mutt did? She went and relieved herself. I guess she got scared in the portal.

"Hey, there, you! Who're you?" a gruff voice challenged. I whirled around into a fighter's stance, only to see a little red rabbit-like Digimon with purple stripes and a feathery tail. Just an Elecmon. Nothing to be scared of.

"I'm Kristi, an' this is San_d_y," I said, making sure to say the _D_. "Have you seen this Digimon?" I asked, pulling out the same frame and showing it to him. In it was a picture of Flamedramon and me that Kari had taken.

"Nope, sorry, ain't seen 'im. He a friend of yours?"

"Yeah. San'y, cut that out!" I said, tapping the top of her muzzle with my finger. "It's not polite to sniff Digimon!" She waved her tail apologetically. "Sit." She sat down and started panting to show how contented she was.

* * * The DigiDestined * * * 

ExVeemon gave his wings an annoyed flap. '_No breeze. No thermals, no tailwind, no headwind, no nothing!_' he thought. '_Dead air. Nothing here but dead air._' He flapped again, trying to stay up. Even if there had only been a faint breeze to play with his ears, he could've concentrated on that instead of memories. Maybe the reason flying reminded him of Kristi was that she'd seemed trapped, and flying was just about the greatest freedom you could get. He'd once even tried to convince himself that he liked Gatomon, just to get those old memories out of his head. It hadn't worked. He'd avoided being Flamedramon as much as possible she'd left, since for some odd reason his memories of her came clearer and the pain came sharper in that form. Aquillamon was having just as much trouble, but Angemon and Stingmon were doing just fine. Gatomon and Kari were both hitching a ride on Angemon with T.K., and Cody and Armadillomon were riding on Aquillamon with Yolei. The two of them looked airsick.

"Hey, ExVeemon, watch it!" Davis yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts. He'd let himself sink too low again, and now the treetops were slapping him and Davis in the face. He flapped again and again, straining every muscle in his back and wings to get high enough to clear the trees. The noise he made slamming into the trees almost drowned out the faint whistling, warbling scale.

"Hey! Do you guys hear that?" he asked.

"What? I don't hear anything."

"Try being quiet, Davis," Kari and Yolei suggested.

"He's right, it's a whistle," Gatomon said, her big ears catching the faint sound. The other Digimon nodded. Their hearing was better than their human counterparts'. ExVeemon flew over to Stingmon, being careful to avoid the big Digimon's wings, and handed him Davis, then flew towards the sound with an unimaginable amount of energy.

"Where're you going?" Davis called.

"I know that whistle. I _know_ it!" he called back, still straining for speed.

"He knows a whistle?"

"No, silly, he knows whoever it is that's playing it," Kari said.

"Oh." Davis felt like a fool now. '_At least it was Kari, and not T.V._' He watched his Digimon fly away.

ExVeemon twisted his head around to see about a patch of blue he'd noticed. '_She was wearing brown the last time I saw her, but humans change their clothes all the time._' On his second pass, he was sure it was Kristi. He dropped down, flapping his wings ever so slightly to slow himself down.

* * * Kristi * * * 

The sight of a big Digimon flying over was frightening enough, but when he landed I nearly had a heart attack. He looked an awful lot like Flame, but he had wings and was about twice as tall. I wondered if he might be related, or if he was another Digivolution. "Who on _Earth_ are you?" I asked. None of the memories Nariko had given me told anything about him.

"Ex…Ex…ExVeemon," the Digimon panted. The _V_ with tails that made an _X_ across his chest heaved with his breathing. "You probably don't know me, but I bet you're looking for a Digimon named Flamedramon." I nodded. I didn't know how he knew any of this, but if he knew where Flame was, then that's all I cared about.

"Do you know him?"

"Yes, in a way. I'll go get him." The Digimon took off without waiting for my reply, making a hurricane with the beats of his wings. I watched him fly, and wondered how in the world a Digimon that didn't look very smart would know about me and Flame.

"San'y," I said gently. "San'y, what was that?" She cocked her head, and I took it as 'I don't know'. Sandy and I have been together for six years, and I understand her almost as well as she understands me. I sat on a tree root and shivered. "Should'a brought a better jacket, San'y. It's nippy out here." She sat in front of me and I rubbed the sides of her ribs, then thumped on her like a drum. She liked that, for some odd reason. I put my head down on hers and rested my eyes.

* * * 

"Hey, Kristi. It's been a while, _ne_?" I looked up at the all-too-familiar voice.

"FLAME! It's been too long," I said, hugging him tightly. "Way too long." Sandy sniffed at Flame's feet and growled. "Hey, cut it out." I nudged her with the toe of my shoe. Not hard, but just enough to make her quit. "She must be jealous. Either that, or she wants an introduction. Let her smell your hand." He stuck his armored glove close to her face, and she backed away, growling louder. "San-_dy_!"

"What's wrong with it?"

"_Her_, not _it_. Sandy's my dog. She just gets jealous of people easy. Too easy," I added. "'Course, you could try your _hand_, instead of your armor." He pulled off the armor and put his large hand out to her. She gave it a faint sniff, the raised the fur along her neck and at the base of her tail. "She isn't acting right." I thought for a moment. "Prove you're really Flamedramon. What's my middle name?"

"I wouldn't know; you've never told me." I nodded, satisfied. But, just to be sure, I added,

"What's the name of the human-Digimon that's telepathic?"

"Nariko. Why do you keep asking questions? Don't you trust me?"

"Yeah, but people can be tricky, and I see no reason why Digimon couldn't be the same." I smiled faintly and tightened my grip on him for a second. Sandy sat down and glared at both of us, looking like I'd just rejected her. I bent over her and took her head between my hands and whispered, "C'mon, San'y, at least _try_ and get along with Flame. You didn't growl at any of the other Digimon, so what's wrong with him? Why don't you like him?" She made a _kaahhh_ noise in her throat that I didn't know what meant. Probably something like 'Because, that's why!'

"The others will be looking for me soon. Let's go." I followed him slowly through the bushes. It wasn't easy, because I had to keep one eye on him, one eye on Sandy, and both of my eyes on the trees to make sure I didn't hit any. I recognized most everyone except for a tall, thin kid with black hair.

"I'm sorry for any previous grievances I may have caused you," he said, bowing faintly.

"What? What's he done? I don't even know you." I looked from one face to another for an explanation. "Hey, is that the same Wormmon that serves the Digimon Emperor?" The small green worm nodded, or at least tried to.

"Ken used to be the Digimon Emperor," Davis piped up. "But he changed." I looked hard at the tall boy.

"Him? Nah, he wasn't no Emperor. What're you guys tryin' to do here?"

"Nothing," Flame said. "We're not making this up." I squinted hard at Flame, trying to see if he was really telling me the truth. His mask made it difficult, but I finally decided he really _was_ telling the truth. "I'm tired. Can we go now? I want something to eat."

"Me too! I'm starved," Armadillomon added. A strange whitish light engulfed Flame, then an orange light jumped from him to Davis's pocket. The light vanished, leaving a shorter version of Flame without his armor and with a much shorter face.

'_Veemon_,' I remembered.

"I shaid, 'can we go'?" he asked. I giggled at the sound of his voice. It was so different from Flame's, so much more like a little kid's with a lisp. "What'sh sho funny, Krishti?"

"Nothing, nothing," I said, before bursting into another giggling fit. "I'm sorry; I guess I've just got a case of the giggles." Sandy walked over and sniffed at Veemon. His head was just above hers. She wagged her tail and tried to lick him.

"Hey, shtop that, Shandy! Why doesh she like me now?" I bit my tongue to fight my giggles and shrugged a 'who knows?' shrug. I watched Sandy for a moment more before deciding that she didn't like the way Flame smelled faintly of something burning. It must've reminded her of fireworks, which she hated. I hardly noticed the smell, but dogs have so many more olfactory receptors that the smell must've been like a neon sign to her.

We walked through the woods, with me holding onto Sandy's collar to keep her from running after every little sound or smell. We reached a T.V. set, and I asked if they were just going to watch T.V. and what channels did the thing get, and how did it work if there wasn't a wire. "No, this is how we get home," Yolei said. She held up a small red-and-white thing that was faintly egg-shaped. "DigiPort, open!" A yellow-white light swallowed them and pulled them into the T.V.

"Well, now what, San'y?" I asked. She looked at me like I was supposed to decide. "You know, this part of the Digiworld is kinda familiar. If we're where I think we are…"

"Kristi!" I turned around to face Nariko, who had snuck up on me. "Follow me." I was getting sick of following people. I patted my leg and whistled at Sandy, who followed me at a heel. I followed Nariko back to her cave, hating the climb over a small rocky hill. I had to carry Sandy at times. The other side was the entrance to her cave. BlackSalamon and Shadomon greeted us. Sandy seemed to like them.

"Sandy, you leave her jars alone! You could break them," I said, pulling Sandy away from the jars of dried berries that had been so neatly stacked in a row near the back. I opened one and pulled out a handful of minty-green berries and popped them in my mouth. I gave Sandy a couple, too. The jars were labeled, but it was in a neat Japanese script that I couldn't read. I pulled out a handful of yellowish berries and let Sandy eat them. "How do you keep a fire going? I don't see any flint."

"Well, I can't throw fireballs, but I can heat things up pretty good." She pulled off her gloves and took a piece of unburned wood between her palms, then concentrated on it. It glowed red close to her hands, then burst into flames. She chunked it onto the fire. Sandy gave her and then the fire a really mean look.

"That's useful."

"Yeah. I'm going to bed." I nodded and sat down against a wall. I held out my hand to Sandy, then brought it against my stomach in a 'come here' motion. She lay down beside me, obviously tired, and I put my head on her like she was a living pillow. I petted her, and then fell asleep.

* * * 

I woke up when my head hit the hard floor. "_San-dy_!" I yelped. She was standing in the doorway, growling. The morning sunlight outlined her legs, tail, head, and back with a golden halo, but the fur that stood up in a ridge along her neck looked more menacing than ever. "Sandy, what is your _problem_?" I looked out and saw Flame standing a few yards away, looking like he wasn't sure whether or not he should try to come any closer. "Hush!" I whispered harshly to her. "Hush! Sandy, would you _hush_?"

"I'm not sure if she'd bite me or not, so I didn't dare come any closer."

"If she bites you, just pop her nose _gently_. She probably wouldn't, though." I gave Sandy a 'you'd better not' look. "Shhhh, Sandy. Shhhh." I held her collar with one hand and put the other in front of her. The ridge of hair along her neck slowly went down, then rose when Flame got close enough for her to jump on. "Quit it, girl. Quit." I took a firmer hold on her, though, just to be sure. Flame stood about two feet from us now, and Sandy lifted her lips to reveal her sharp canine teeth. "Stop!" I said, popping her nose with two fingers. "Bad dog."

"That's why I didn't come any closer. She keeps looking at me like I might be her lunch."

"Nah, she just doesn't like your smell. And no amount of bathing or deodorant will hide a smell from her." I explained how a dog could smell things that humans and probably most Digimon couldn't, then explained why she didn't like burning things.

"Grrrrr…rrr-rrr-rrr-rrr…" Sandy seemed to be insulting him in her own way, and I laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"I think Sandy says she'd rather take a bath than put up with this. Or maybe she's just calling you names. I can't get a good translation for everything she says, but that's a very sarcastic growl." Sandy made a pleased cough in her throat, then waved her tail.

"She looks pretty proud of herself."

"She is. She thinks what she said was really funny. How come you're here so early?"

"I got Davis to let me Digivolve in the computer room 'cause he had to go in and do make-up work early this morning. Then he opened the DigiPort and let me through. Took me a while to find this place."

"Now what're we gonna do?"

"First, we're gonna see if we can't convince Sandy not to rip me apart on sight, then I don't know."

"Get me a vine, would you? Holding her collar gets old." He jumped down the hill, apparently glad to get away from Sandy. He slipped into the forest at the base of the hill and came back holding a long, thin vine. He got within three feet of us, then stopped when Sandy gave him a look.

"Can I throw it to you? She still looks ready to eat me."

"She is _not_ going to eat you. Besides, you're gonna hafta hold her while I make a leash." He took a step forward, then stopped. "What, are you scared of something that's a third your size?"

"No, I'm not scared, I just don't want her to – "

"For the millionth time, Flame, she won't eat you!" He looked at Sandy, who still had a glint to her eyes, then walked towards us and set the vine down beside me. "You'll need your hands to hold her still right." I took a firm grip on Sandy's muzzle, then led her to Flame, who was sitting down without the armor on his hands. "Grab her mouth like I'm doing," I said. He placed his hand loosely over mine, then tightened it when my hand slid away. I pushed her up against him and showed him how to loop his arm around her to keep her from squirming away. "If she gets too wiggly, just bend over her." She whined as I picked up the vine and tied a small loop in it, then threaded the vine through the loop to make a choke collar.

"Could you hurry? She's not cooperating." I put my loop in front of his hand.

"Take your hand away. She won't bite you. She's really scared of you, not angry." I put the loop over her head and he let go of her. She stood behind my legs as he stood up and brushed the dog hairs off of himself. "See how bad she sheds? That's what she'll do if she's really scared. Most dogs don't shed in late fall."

"I don't see how a dog could be scared and still look like she'll eat somebody for lunch."

"She's like me. If I get scared, I'll either run or attack. Since she couldn't very well run from you in a cave, she acted tough. Besides, she'd be having breakfast, not lunch." Sandy backed away when he put his hand out to her. "San'y, would you quit it?" She sat down, her eyes wide open and showing the whites around their brown irises. Now that there was an open way out behind her, Sandy wanted to run.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Sandy," he told her. "What's wrong with you? Can't you tell?" She stood up and backed to the end of the vine. "So much for her liking me."

"San'y," I said. "Com'ere, San'y." I led her out the entrance and let her walk freely on the leash, not up against my leg in a tight heel. "Hurry up, Flame!" He trotted to catch up with us, then watched Sandy walk as far from him as she could. She pulled so hard on the vine that it choked her. "San'y, you don't have to be so scared."

"What should I do? She obviously doesn't like me." He sat down, and she pulled harder on the leash, so hard, in fact, that she reared up. "I still don't know why she'd get so worked up over me smelling like something burning."

"I don't know. She's never been burned. But she hates fireworks, so she might think burning things mean fireworks." I sat down next to him, and watched Sandy stand as far away as she could, her eyes bulging and showing their whites in an expression of fear. "San'y, com'ere." I tugged at the leash, only to have her back farther away. "You don't com'ere, I'll get your hairs!" She had a fringe of hair growing along the backs of her legs that she hated to have touched. She walked to me and whined.

The instant Flame put his hand out to her, she backed up slightly before I caught the leash and held her there. She watched him with big, frightened eyes before she decided to show her teeth again. I popped her nose and forced her into a sit. "You quit that. You quit it now," I said, staring her right in the eyes. She looked away. I held her head against me so Flame could at least touch her without getting bitten. She'd been getting more and more energy every minute she'd been here, almost as if the years were falling away and leaving the strong-willed puppy I'd first met. It'd taken forever to teach her any sort of manners. 'Jump', 'heel', and 'come' were one thing, but things like 'sit' or 'stay' were nearly impossible.

"Do you think it might not be anything to do with my smell, but something to do with the way I look?"

"Nah, I've never met a dog that thought of people as ugly or weird. Crazy, yes, but never weird."

"You can _talk_ to her?"

"Not _talk_, talk, like I can talk to you, but more of a I-know-what-you're-thinking type of talk. Sometimes, if you really get to know someone, you can almost read their mind. I can tell which member of my family is coming by their footsteps alone. I just know them that well. San'y's no different." At the mention of her name, Sandy pulled her head away from my hands and sniffed Flame's fingers, which were patting her shoulder. Her tongue flicked out and ran over his hand.

"Hey!" He pulled his hand away. "What was that for?"

"That's just her way of saying she doesn't mind you anymore. I'm surprised she licked you at all, considering the way she was growling a few minutes ago." I thumped her sides, making a _whumph_ sound with each slap. "Good girl. Good San'y." She rolled over onto her back, a gesture I hadn't seen in several years. I rubbed her belly for her, and laughed when her leg started to kick. "Tickles, huh, San'y?" She closed her eyes and grinned stupidly.

"Let's go up to that hilltop we went to the last time you were here." We got up, and I let Sandy off her leash with full confidence that a whistle or shout would bring her back. She trotted lightly behind us, nipping Flame's heels when he walked too slow or too close to me. "Ouch!" he yelled as a playful nip became too vicious. "Cut that out! What am I doing?"

"She's probably just jealous. She's _always_ jealous," I said with a faint laugh. I shoved a stalk of bamboo from my face. Sandy never liked anyone getting too close to my family or me. '_Wonder what she'd do if it was the other way around?_' I thought. I took a step closer to Flame and linked my arm with his. Sandy growled really low, but she didn't move to bite either of us.

"Seems like anything we do together's gonna have to be your decision. Unless I wanna get bit, that is." We both got a laugh out of that. He was right, though: Sandy was acting doubly protective of me now, and she wouldn't like anyone getting too friendly.

"How long are we gonna stay up there?"

"If that little dog of yours has anything to say about it, it'll be 'till you get up." Sandy gave an agreeable wag of her tail. She liked being able to boss someone around.

"Race ya!" I called, breaking into a sudden run. Flame couldn't quite get Sandy to quit cutting in front of him and tripping him. The only reason he didn't fall was because of all the bamboo. Then Sandy got it into her head to play a game of 'pants-leg-pull', without the pants. It took me a good ten minutes to make my way back to them and pull Sandy away.

"What did I do to deserve that?"

"Sandy likes to play tug-o'-war with peoples pants, but you don't have pants to tug on, so she improvised." I laughed at Sandy's amazingly human mind, with all the funny things it could think up. So much for dogs being stupid. "She's smarter than you'd think."

Sandy didn't pull any more tricks until we both got to the top of the hill. Then, she thought it was her duty to wedge herself firmly between us. No amount of pushing, shoving, begging, or threatening to "get her hairs" would make her move. She finally did move when I carried out my threat to get those silly hairs of hers. Then she plopped herself in my lap. I didn't mind it at first, but forty-five pounds of mutt gets heavy, and the noonday sun was hot enough to make me sweat. So, I really didn't like having that lap full after a few minutes. I made her get off and lay on the rock beside me.

"Hey, there's a jumping fish!" Flame said, pointing to a small, silvery object leaping around far below us.

"Don't you mean a _flying_ fish?"

"No, I mean jumping. It can't fly." Then he broke out laughing, and I realized it had been a joke. "Get it?"

"No, I can't _get it_; _it_'s not here. But I can get you!" I tackled him and disturbed Sandy, who had almost fallen asleep. She joined in our little wrestling match, and soon it wasn't a question of who was winning. I had been pinned under them both, and I sure wasn't able to just stand up, not with Sandy's forty-five pounds on my stomach and a good portion of Flame's hundred-and-fifty or so on her. I rolled away when the pressure left, but I was winded and I couldn't think straight.

Rule number one of being on cliff edges: be sure to stay away from the edge. I broke that rule and almost fell the hundred feet to the bottom. Looking down, I saw that there were actually rocks near the very base and not open river. I'd managed to grab onto a little handhold with one hand, and by doing the splits I found toeholds. Sneakers are _not_ climbing shoes. With my free hand I groped above me for another rock or crevice, but there were none that held under even the slightest of tugs. Unfortunately, I had fallen ten feet before I'd gotten a hold of anything. Another ten feet down was a ledge that was maybe a half-foot wide.

"Hey, Kristi, where'd you go?" Flame called from above.

"Try down, about ten feet." He peered over the edge and asked what I was doing. "Well, maybe I thought it would be fun to scale a cliff. Or maybe _I just fell over the edge_!" Sandy looked at me and whimpered. "Go get some rope or something. I wish I hadn't dropped that vine back there, and I' not sure how long I can hold onto this rock with one foot over there and the other one way over there."

"Um…can you jump?"

"Oh, sure, I can jump. I can jump, and I can fall, and I can scream, and I can make a big _splat!_ for you when I hit the bottom." I was being sarcastic to hide my fear.

"No, I mean to that ledge below you."

"Not unless it's about ten feet wider and half as far. Besides, I want _up_, not down! Oh, where's a rope and a climbing harness when you need it?" Just then, my right foot lost its hold and I was left with a foot and a hand. I clutched at the rock with my free hand, trying to find even the smallest hole. "Been nice knowin' you two; the other one feels pretty loose." Just to prove me right, it turned loose. I don't have much upper body strength, so now it would come down to just how long it took my fingers to give up on me.

"Try for a lower hold. Maybe you can get to that ledge." What was his deal with that ledge? Did he think six inches of rock would hold a hundred and twenty pounds for more than a few minutes? Just the same, I swung my feet back and forth, feeling for a hold. I found one, and then a second. Now I was stretched out flat against the rock. I felt of the rocks beside me and found the faintest hairline crack that my fingers could just barely fit into, and for once I was glad of my small hands. Working slowly, I managed to get within a foot of the ledge, and from there I slid down to the narrow, but relatively safer, rock.

"Hey, I thought you were better at taking care of yourself, Kristi," Nariko called down. "Just got here, and it looks like you need some help."

"No kidding," I muttered. Then, louder, I called, "Got any bright ideas?" She shook her head. Then, and I swear this is true, you could almost _see_ a light bulb come on over her head. I could see them talking, but the wind had picked up and drowned out all the words.

_Flamedramon's gonna jump down and carry you back up. If that doesn't work, then he'll climb down and leave little holes for you to use. Okay?_ I nodded. Anything to get away from this blasted situation. I flattened myself against the rock and moved to the edge of the precipice to give him a broader target, praying that Flame's aim was better than I thought. A sharp _thwack!_ followed by two _schlink!_s told me he'd hit squarely. The strong wind blew his ears and tail around and made moving hard for me, since some sand or hair kept getting in my eyes.

'_Keep moving,_' I told myself. '_Don't freeze up._' I toe-walked to Flame and grabbed his shoulders. I leaned against him and held on for life itself. Well, maybe not _all_ of the tightness was fear, but a lot of it was. My mind screamed at me when he jumped, but it shut itself up when he put his arm around me. It's amazing, how much difference some small little gesture can make. I heard the _thwump!_ of our landing, but I didn't look up or loosen my grip.

"Hey, don't choke me!" Flame said, nearly choking me himself. I couldn't help smiling.

"If that's over with, I'll leave you two alone," Nariko said, turning.

'_Ha!_' I laughed. '_You know what we're doing, so why _would_ you hang around? The hidden camera always catches more funny moments when there's only one or two people in the room._' Her laughter echoed in my head for a moment, then died down. Sandy whined at me for a moment before I opened my eyes and held out an arm for her. She reared up against us and I ruffled her ears, then she got down. I leaned forward again.

"You oughta try standing on your own sometime. You might like it." Flame grinned at me, showing his pointed, too-white teeth. I shook my head.

"_You_ wouldn't," I laughed, poking him in the ribs. He nodded. I raised my head and looked at the sun. "What time is it? Two? Three?" He shrugged.

"Is that some kind of hint that you don't want me around?" I swear, he had to cross his eyes to look at me straight down his nose. It was just about the silliest expression I've ever seen.

"Naw, ain't a hint for you to leave. Ain't a hint, period." I laughed as my voice slipped into a thicker Texan accent. It comes and goes, but it'll show up at the worst possible times.

"Now you sound like Armadillomon!" I rolled my eyes and thumped the side of his armor on his face, making it go cocky. He straightened it. Sandy gave me an open-mouthed grin. "Did you know there's supposed to be a lunar eclipse tonight?" I shook my head. "You want to watch it?" I shrugged, then nodded. I liked the nighttime sky and I liked watching it. Besides, it was an excuse to stay up late.

* * * 

That night, we both climbed up to the top of the little hill that Nariko's cave was in to watch the eclipse. The rocks were flattened by rain and wind near the top, so we had no trouble finding a good place to sit. It had warmed up considerably that afternoon, so I'd left my jacket in the cave for Sandy. She hadn't wanted to come along. I'd also let my hair out of its ponytail. I leaned against Flame and slid my arm around his waist. I had to be careful, though, since he had three short spines on his back, one of which was normally hidden by his armor.

"Hey, don't go to sleep," he said, putting one arm around my shoulders and shaking me.

"The moon's not even up yet. Wake me up when it starts." Without his armor, I noticed how his shoulders had very little muscle on them. I could just barely feel the sharp bone of his shoulder blade poking me if I laid my head the wrong way. I tucked my long legs up against me and relaxed into a near-sleep, almost trance-like happiness.

Even after the lunar eclipse had taken its two hours to shrink away to nothing and come back, we stayed out there. Flame tried to point out constellations to me, but I just couldn't see what he kept saying was there. I knew perfectly well what a Gabumon and a Canomon looked like, but I couldn't see any stars that looked anything like either one of them. "Look," Flame said, putting his head right next to mine. "See that star? That's the Canomon's nose. And the one behind it is the eye. That one above and behind it is the ear. See that much?" I nodded, and he continued, pointing out the stars that made the Canomon's feet, the places where its legs joined its body, the base of the tail, and the tip of the tail. It took forever.

Just then, a big white dragon flew high over us, wailing a musical cry. "Who-oo-oo! Oo-oo-ee-oo! Who-whoo-whoo-ee-ee-oo!" The creature sang its song over and over until another joined it. Then, they both sang a stranger, more haunting melody. "Fwee-oh-ee-oh-oo-ee-oh! Oh-ee-ow-oo-oh-ee-oo!" Two more joined in, and the song changed once more, this time to a happy one. "Oh-oo-oo-oo-ee-oo! Ee-oo-oh-oh-oh-ee-oo! Oo-ee-ee-oo-ee-oh! Oo-oo-oh-oo-ee!" The song had no words, only strange syllables without a meaning. A fifth joined the chorus, and the song changed back to its original music. "Who-oo-oo! Oo-oo-ee-oo! Who-whoo-whoo-ee-ee-oo!" Then, the five Digimon left.

"What…was…that?"

"I've heard that Lunardramon sing after an eclipse. I don't know why." I yawned and stood up, and then we worked our way back down the hillside. I laid my head on Flame's shoulder inside the cave and pulled Sandy against me, and fell asleep that way.

* * * 

When we finally woke up the next day, it was a little past noon. In the middle of the afternoon, the DigiDestined and the rest of their Digimon found us. Davis kept rambling about needing some help with destroying some Control Spire Flymon. Flame quickly explained that some strange lady was turning all the leftover Control Spires into fake Digimon. I knew what the Control Spires were, but I didn't understand how you could turn one into a Digimon. Flame dropped back to Veemon, the quickly Digivolved to ExVeemon. Davis and I both climbed onto his back. It was tough to hang on, especially when he started to fly. Luckily, my fingers could dig into the muscle on his shoulder without it bothering him too much.

When we got to the field where the Flymon were running – well, flying, really – amok, everything started to happen too fast. First, ExVeemon went from flying horizontal to flying vertical, and I lost my grip. Then, when he attacked one of the Flymon, his tail swung around and hit me. I fell the ten or so feet to the ground and made a very nice _whoompf!_ sound when I hit. It's amazing, the things the human body can stand. I didn't break anything, and I'm not too sure he noticed the absence of my weight. I stood up – painfully, I might add – and watched him shoot one Vee Laser after another at the fake Flymon. The other Digimon were attacking, too. A big eagle with goat horns on its head kept hitting the Flymon with its horns, and a porcupine-looking thing swung its think tail at them. Nefertimon and Pegasusmon were there, too. The Flymon shot stingers from their tail ends, a few of which threatened to hit me.

I was at the edge of the field, so there were some bushes growing there. I took time out to hide behind one and eat some of the berries. "Aw, man, these energy fruits aren't ripe," I muttered as I noticed that they weren't as uniform in color. They were more yellow-green and blue-green, and they didn't glow as much. They were more sour, too. "Yuck, these are gross!" I couldn't stand more than five of them, but mostly it was because I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch. I hoped I didn't get sick.

There were fewer Flymon now, only about three remained from the original fifteen or so. A grand finale came when the last one was hit by a Vee Laser, Blast Rings from the eagle whose name was Aquillamon, a Rosetta Stone, and a Star Shower, all of which caused a neat little explosion. The flying Digimon landed and their human partners got off, then they all reverted back to their Rookie levels. Veemon ran over and jumped on me. I laughed at the short Digimon, who was surprisingly heavy for his size. I haul around over twenty pounds of books at school every day, though, so my arms had a little strength.

I let go of Veemon, who dropped to his feet and joined the other Digimon in celebrating their victory. I got a slightly lightheaded feeling for a moment, but I shook it off and blamed it on my fall. '_Ought'a know better than to let go of a Digimon when you're ten feet up._' Of course, even a drop from his shoulder when he was standing on the ground would've been a ten-foot fall, so I'd dropped closer to twenty feet.

On the flight back I got lightheaded again, but I blamed it on altitude. ExVeemon flew lower, and it went away. A pain shot through my left side when I got off, but that was the side I'd landed on. It was weird to watch ExVeemon revert to Veemon then Armor Digivolve to Flamedramon, like I was watching what had happened earlier today in reverse. We waved as the others left, and Gatomon made a wisecrack about staying out of trouble. Flame stuck his tongue out at her.

"You two should've seen Sandy," Nariko said as we walked in. That crazy dog was jumping on Flame and me and nearly bowling us over. "She kept wanting to see where you went. I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen." I squatted and let her lick me in the face.

"Yuck! Licky-tongue!" I said, calling her by one of her many nicknames. "You are such a licky-tongue, Sandy!" She boxed one of Flame's gloves with her paw when she was through with me.

"Oh, is that all?" he asked sarcastically. She sat down on my jacket and gave us a 'that was nice' look. Flame kicked off his armor and pushed it into a pile. "That's the one thing I hate about being Flamedramon: that armor is annoying! It always gets in the way!" I laughed a soft, cough-like laugh as I sat beside Sandy and ruffled her ears. Flame sat on the other side of me. I put one arm around each of them and went to sleep.

* * * 

I woke up during the pre-dawn darkness. My stomach hurt terribly. I went outside and left a greenish pile behind some rocks. "Kristi? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Flame. I'm over here," I said as I wiped my mouth with a scraggly plant that was growing between the rocks.

"Are you okay? You sound sick."

"I, uh, I just ate something, that's all. I bet it was those unripe energy fruit."

"Oh. Let's hope that's the end of it, then, because that stuff _stinks_!" I kicked some rocks over the glowing pile and stood up on my less-than-cooperative legs. I had to steady myself between him and the rocks. Sandy looked at me, then got up and moved away from me. She knew I was sick, and she wanted no part of it.

I didn't sleep the rest of the morning. The sun rose in a brilliant and threatening red. Shadomon stood up, blinked her red eyes, and walked through the doorway to the back part of the cave. A few minutes later she came back and sniffed at the air. "Sorry about the smell," I said, gritting my teeth to force down the pain in my gut. She nodded, then went outside. When she came back, I noticed the faintly sour smell of her breath. She turned to a transparent, milky form, then disappeared. She'd gone to bathe at her pool.

I nearly passed out around noon, and I did have a short blackout a little while later. When I came to, Flamedramon was holding me and telling Nariko that it couldn't've just been something I'd eaten, because that wouldn't knock me out. That little fainting spell was nothing compared to the blackness that came over me a few hours later.

* * * Flamedramon * * * 

Her short faint should've prepared him for when she dropped over sideways and refused to move, but it didn't. Nariko kept telling him that the only thing she'd had were those strange energy fruits, even though he kept insisting that unripe fruit didn't make people pass out, that it didn't make them puke. Then, she had to tell him that she didn't have an eating disorder. He tapped the side of her face again. No response. She didn't even reach up to swat at his hand for getting too close to her mouth.

It took nearly three-quarters of an hour to convince her to wake up. Even Nariko's telepathic screams didn't rouse her. When she did wake up, Flamedramon wished they'd let her sleep. Every muscle in her face tightened and her normally thin features twisted themselves around. Her eyes clearly showed the pain that ripped through her gut. "Flame?" she asked, every sound showing clear effort to be produced without being accompanied by a scream of pain. "What…happened?"

"You fainted. Or else you can really fake fainting." Nariko rolled her eyes and muttered about how thick Flamedramon's head was. He had no need of armor for protection. She tried to get Kristi to eat some of her berries, but the girl wouldn't chew. The berries just sat in her mouth. She swallowed once, then coughed out the berries. She seemed to be pretty determined _not_ to eat.

Flamedramon was sitting against the wall and had her halfway in his lap. Sandy kept poking her nose into Kristi's hand, which didn't do any good, since all she did was close her hand over her dog's mouth, then let go. Sandy refused to move, no matter what anyone did or said. Even touching the hairs along her leg wouldn't make her get up.

In late afternoon the others came by. Flamedramon nearly had a fit. He hadn't been able to figure out what was wrong with Kristi, and that made him mad. Gatomon knelt beside her and squinted at her eyes. "What's she eaten?"

"The last thing she ate before she got sick was some unripe energy fruit, but I don't think that made her sick," Nariko said.

"Are you sure? Are you sure it was unripe fruit, and not something else?" Gatomon asked.

"What do you mean, 'something else'?" Flamedramon asked. "Are you saying there's something that looks like energy fruit but isn't?"

"Well, it was a long time ago, just after I'd become Salamon and went to look for Kari. I met a really old-looking Digimon. He said he'd learned about poison fruits the hard way: by eating some. There's supposed to be a cure high in some mountains, but that was before the Digital World got reconfigured. None of you new Digimon would know anything about that time, though."

"Where? What mountains, Gatomon? _What mountains?_" Flamedramon's voice rose with anxiety. He was ready to grab Gatomon by the tail and shake the answer out of her.

"I don't know, alright? No one ever told me," she said as she backed away. Flamedramon's sudden outburst had startled everyone, but Patamon said he thought it wasn't too far from where they were.

"Maybe just a section or two away. We could go back to the Real World and get there really fast," Patamon said.

"Look, it's getting late, and there seems to be a storm brewing. Let's come back tomorrow," T.K. suggested.

"No," Flamedramon told him bluntly. "Patamon knows where it is; we're going there _now_." There was a big argument after that, and Davis ended up with a bruised arm when Flamedramon grabbed him and asked if he agreed that they should start out right then. He gave his usual answer,

"Um, maybe?"

"Maybe? _Maybe?_ What about definitely?"

"Does this look familiar to anyone else?" Yolei asked. Cody nodded. "Look, we'll leave our Digimon here, _and we'll come back tomorrow_. It's too late to start out now, and T.K.'s right, there's a storm coming. Alright?" Flamedramon released his grip on Davis's arm and looked from one face to another, then nodded. He knew when he was beaten.

* * * 

Flamedramon stood just outside the mouth of the cave, letting the rain hit him as hard and cold as it pleased. '_Maybe this will cool my temper,_' he thought. Tears formed in his eyes. Gatomon had said it had taken nearly a week for the old Digimon to be reconfigured after she'd found him. He wasn't sure you could reconfigure a human.

"Hey, Flamedramon, why're you standing out here in the rain?" Armadillomon asked from inside the cave.

"It helps me think."

"It helps you think, or does it hide the fact that you're scared and upset?" Gatomon called out.

"Both," he mumbled, but they didn't understand him Gatomon shrugged and went back to watching Kristi. She seemed to be doing okay. She hadn't hit the sweaty stage yet, which was a good thing. That was an indication that the poison was about through with her. Gatomon couldn't feel any fever yet, either, so she was certain that they had enough time to get that cure.

Flamedramon shook himself like a wet dog as he walked inside, giving Hawkmon a shower. "I am not a duck!" he said angrily. Flamedramon hardly even bothered to apologize. Sandy whined at him as he squatted down, then laid her furry body against Kristi's back. She knew her place. Flamedramon did something he'd seen Kristi do and scratched roughly behind her ears. She shook her head and pawed at her ear. Sandy had no intentions of letting him be so nice to her. He hadn't earned her affections, but she would tolerate him for Kristi's sake.

Shadomon and BlackSalamon both watched all of this from Nariko's woven-reed bed. They looked like two black dogs, one with red eyes and one with blue. They had no intention of getting up; they could see just fine from where they were. Flamedramon sat against the wall again, but instead of leaving his legs out straight, he pulled them tight against him, then stretched them again. "How does she sit like that?"

"It's something to do with how she was born. Her feet were up behind her ears, so her hips developed weird and she finds it more comfortable to sit like that," Nariko told him patiently. There was no need to get him all wound up again.

* * * 

By the time the DigiDestined had convinced Ken that he was needed to help them look for the antidote, Kristi had started to get a fever. Gatomon told them that they had to hurry now. The poison was working too fast. "We don't even know what we're looking for," Ken pointed out. "How can we find it?"

"It's a little flower, about this big," Gatomon said, holding her paws an inch or two apart. "It's bluish-white, but way deep inside it's yellow. Well, that's what I was told. It grows in the middle of a big plant that has a mind of its own." She was faking confidence. Everything she knew she'd heard from legends and stories. "The nectar it makes is supposed to be able to cure anything."

"Let's go, then." Flamedramon was really impatient. He was sure Sandy, BlackSalamon, and Shadomon would take care of her. Even the short trip though the gate was taking forever to him. Everyone hoped that no one walked in, since you couldn't exactly tell someone that Flamedramon was a stuffed animal. Yolei quickly found the section they needed to go to, then reopened the gate. "This place…feels…strange."

"It's cold," Nariko agreed. "And smelly."

"Sorry it took so long!" a new voice called. "But, we're here now!"

"Hanaka! Hiroshi! Yoshi! Takeo! Reiko! Rokuma!" Nariko yelled. "What took you?"

"Portals aren't that easy to open, you know," Hanaka told her. Her light brown hair and purplish eyes showed her resemblance to Kari and Gatomon. "And we live a long way off." Her clothes looked like Kari's, but they were purple where hers was pink or yellow. Her gloves were cut the same, but they were yellow with orangy-brown stripes.

Reiko nodded his agreement. He had purple hair and blue-grey eyes. Hiroshi was trying to explain to Davis what he was. He looked like Davis, but the fire on his jacket was blue, as were his gloves, shorts, and shoes. Under his goggles he wore a blue headband with a yellow _V_ on it. His hair was a funny dark shade of blue. Rokuma shook hands with T.K., who noted how much he looked like him. Same blond hair, same blue eyes, same happy expression. Patamon noticed it too, and it wasn't that weird for him. After all, T.K. looked like his older brother.

Yoshi stood back a bit, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his pale green suit. His eyes were blue, like Ken's and Wormmon's, and his hair was cut like Ken's, but it was greenish-black. Takeo stood back, too, but on the opposite side. He kept looking around like he wanted to be a part of everything, but didn't want to upset anyone. His green eyes and sandy-brown hair looked like Cody, but he had more fat on him from Armadillomon's eating habits.

"We're – "

" – Looking for a flower. We know," Hanaka said, interrupting Flamedramon. They all had the same milky-white skin as Nariko, even though Wormmon and Armadillomon weren't white. "We're going to help you."

"I called them," Nariko explained. "I figured we could use the extra help."

"It should be this way," Gatomon said, pointing through the moldy trees towards some mountains. "They say it grows at the top of the high ones."

"They would pick the tallest ones," Hiroshi complained. He knew Flamedramon wouldn't give up, no matter what, but he didn't know if anyone else had that kind of determination. They climbed for an hour or two before they got tired and had to take a break. Flamedramon didn't want to stop, but he had to.

"Can we go yet?" he asked for the tenth time in five minutes.

"Stop pacing. You look like you need to go to the bathroom," Reiko told him. Everyone thought about that for a moment, then burst out laughing. A minute later they got up and continued.

After they left the chilly mold forest, it turned colder and they found themselves walking amongst several large, brown mushrooms that went _foof!_ and released a cloud of brown spores if you touched them. So, as they walked, all you could hear was _foof! foof! foof! _and all you could see was the cloud the person ahead of you made. "Hey, know what this is?" Nariko asked. "A cloud forest!"

"It is _not_," Yoshi told her. "A cloud forest is a rainforest at a high elevation."

"I know that. But we're walking through clouds of spores, _at a high elevation_, and it looks like a forest." No one got the joke. Flamedramon continued to stomp on all the mushrooms in his way, making loud _fwump!_s as each one exploded. At least, for Cody, there were no clouds of spores. He was at the end, so all the mushrooms in the way had already been popped as long as he jumped from one of Flamedramon's large footprints to another. Others had left less-filled mushrooms in their wake, but they still made a small cloud. By the time he was to the next place, the spores had settled, and he didn't get coughing fits like the others.

Soon the air started to warm up. The sun wasn't any warmer, but the air was getting hotter all the time. The mushrooms had long since vanished behind them. Gleaming pairs of amethyst-colored eyes watched them, but they never moved. A chorus of far away howls sounded. Soon, though, a small yellow dog with white feet and long ears ran up to them. "Hi!" she said. "Tani's busy studying, but I came to help."

"Good," Flamedramon said. He wasn't in a talkative mood. Canomon paused and listened.

"They know we're here," she said.

"Who?" T.K. asked.

"The Canomon who live here. They're Data-type Canomon, so their fur is darker. You'll know them when you see them. They won't be too happy to see you, though." She sniffed the air. "I smell ten, maybe fifteen of them."

They were nearing the top when the first Canomon jumped out at them. He was brown with black peppering the fur, but his legs, face, and underside were yellow with brown hairs sprinkled in. He pointed his nose to the sky and gave a hair-raising cry. "Hooooowwwweeeeerrrrrllllll!"

"He's calling for more," Canomon told them. "So we'd better get them as they appear."

"We can't destroy them!" Cody said. "They're not Control Spires! They're real, living Digimon!"

"When I said 'get them', I meant scare them enough to make them leave. I have no intention of destroying them."

"You know the rules, Canomon. You can't invade another pack's territory," the Data-type Canomon growled.

"I know," she answered. "But we're looking for something to cure a friend of ours." He snorted at her, then charged.

"Ocean Bite!" His attack stopped millimeters from her nose. "Now, leave before my friends get here," he growled in her face. She cocked her head to the side, then quickly slapped his nose with her paw. The popping noise was soon drowned out by a loud howling. He backed away to the relative safety of his friends, and then spat out a tooth she'd knocked loose. The many Water Streams did little more than soak people. It was the bites that did damage. Canomon had enough power in her jaws to break the legs of two of the attacking Digimon.

"Flamedramon! You keep going! We'll keep them busy!" Yoshi called, spitting at one of the Canomon. The sticky silk thread he'd spat out bound the Digimon's mouth shut as good as a Dark Ring. Flamedramon nodded his thanks and ran on, crashing though thick tangles of vines and branches. The heat may have been a hindrance to the others, but it felt good to him.

His feet soon hit water, and every step was accompanied by a little splash. The water was now up to his knees, but it barely slowed him down. Even as it started to come up higher, he never stopped until he saw the giant mass of vines in front of him. "Don't tell me it's a stupid Digimon-eating plant! That's the kind of stuff that's in old movies!" The vines shook, and he was sure they didn't like to be called old. "You heard me, you're nothing but a thing of the past! Wait a second, why am I talking to a _plant_?"

"Yuuuuhhhhhh…rrrrrrrrr…v'ryyyyyyy…mmmmmm'ooooooohhhhhh'iiiiiiiii…"

"What?" Was the thing…talking?

"Yuuuuhhhhhh…rrrrrrrrr…eeeeeeeeee…"

"I don't understand. All I want is one little flower; can I have it?" '_Why am I asking it for permission?_'

"Ooooooohhhhhh…yuuuuhhhhhh…aaaaaaannnn…"

"Why not?"

"Eeeeeeeeee'aaaaaaahhhhhh…iiiiiiiiihhhhhh…iiiiiiiiinnnn…"

"Listen, you…you…you plant-thing! A friend of mine is going to dye if I don't get the antidote! And Im not letting that happen!"

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh…iiiiiiiiihhhhhh…iiiiiiiii…?"

"Look, I don't have time for this, okay? Either you give it to me, or I'm taking it."

"Uuuuhhhhhhmmmmmm…aaaaaaannnn…iiiiiiiiihhhhhh…eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhnnnn…" He was ready to fight this strange plant-creature if that's what it took. He jumped, but found that a vine had wrapped itself around his feet without him noticing. It pulled him under, then he shot back up in a desperate struggle for air.

"Fire – _glub!_ " His attack was cut short when the vines pulled him under again. They were all keeping a good distance from his blade and claws, though. '_I wonder…_' He thrust one long claw out blindly, and missed. He got up for a breath of air, then was pulled down again. The thing knew enough about fire to know to keep him under. Or maybe it was just trying to drown him.

"Iiiiiiiiihhhhhh…mmmmmmiiiiiiiiinnnn…! Iiiiiiiii…ooooooo…iiiiiiiiihhhhhh…" Flamedramon gave one last, desperate kick, and this time cut deep into one of the fatter vines. Something like milk clouded the water and made it taste horrible. "Yuuuuhhhhhh…! Ooooooohhhhhh…! Yyyyyyy…?" The vines released their stranglehold on him. Luckily, his armor protected his throat to a degree, and the vines hadn't been able to choke him. "Yuuuuhhhhhh…iiiiiiiiihhhhhhnnnn…. Aaaaaaa…yuuuuhhhhhhrrrrrrrrr…iiiiiiiii…"

The plant had dragged him into deeper water, so that now it came up to just below his torso armor. He hated being wet. "Where is it? All I see is brown and green."

"Uuuurrrrrrrrr'iiiiiiiii…!" The plant could now use its thickest vines to attack him. Several of the fatter vines were over three feet thick, and could break his ribs if they ever connected. He jumped high before the smaller vines had a chance to entangle his feet. There! Right in the middle, a splash of blue-white! His fire still wouldn't ignite, but he could drop a fire-less Fire Rocket. His nose was sore from the impact, but he couldn't let that bother him. He pulled his hand free of its armor and grabbed the tiny flower. The edges of its petals folded in, creating a little pouch that wouldn't spill. "Ooooooohhhhhh…" The plant made a gurgling sound, then fell silent.

"I'm outta here!" Flamedramon did a long jump back to the relative safety of the shallower water, then ran back to where the others were fighting the Canomon. The last one disappeared into the bushes as he ran up to them. "I got it. Let's go."

"There's another T.V. set over this way that's closer," Canomon said. "It's how I got back." They followed the little yellow dog to the T.V.. Luckily, her bright yellows and whites were not easy to loose.

"Digi-Port Open!" Davis yelled, holding out his blue D-3. The gate pulled them through, leaving Hanaka, Hiroshi, Yoshi, Takeo, Reiko, and Rokuma to get back to their own areas. Yolei quickly selected the area of Nariko's cave and they went back through. "I think I got jetlag!"

"There's no time for that! Come on!" The sun had just about set. Flamedramon was certain they were going to be too late, until this really weird little voice in his head told him otherwise. '_Nariko! Cut it out!_'

_You were getting too serious and worried, so I had to use a bit of Kristi's Internet psychotic-ness to lighten things up._ He shook his head. She must've been crazy. Both of them must've been crazy. He hardly even realized where he was going; his mind was so blurred. The only thing that came clearly to him was that he had no clue about how to give Kristi the antidote once he was inside the cave. She wouldn't swallow, so how could he get it in her? The pouch of flower petals was certainly too big to be swallowed without chewing, anyway.

"Flame?" she whispered, half-opening her eyes. Even the faint afternoon light hurt them. "Flame? Sandy?"

"I got it," he told her, showing her the tiny flower that had curled up on itself. "Can you chew?" She made a faint 'no' shake of her head.

"Wha…wha…ter…" Her speech was soft and pained, like there was no possible way to make any more sound. "Drink it like water." Sandy moved her head so she could see her human's face. Every twitch of her muscles was evident to her movement-sensitive eyes. Sandy made a low cough, just enough to let her know she was there for her.

"Try making a cup of it," Nariko panted as the rest of them finally got to her cave. Flamedramon nodded and pulled at the tips of the petals that were now almost cemented together with his claws. He had almost no practice with using his hands as Flamedramon, though, and he was clumsy. Once he'd managed to pull them apart, he tried to get her to drink it. Kristi coughed as it went down wrong. "Hey, everybody, shoo!" Nariko knew when privacy was needed, and she intended to let them have it. She 'shoo'ed everybody outside, until she was sure Flamedramon would think they couldn't hear. Even though she understood a need for privacy, she also liked to get into other people's business, and she had no qualms about letting others hear funny things, which she was sure Flamedramon would say a few of.

"Slow…wer…" Kristi told him. She couldn't swallow very well because of her stomachache. He nodded, and tried not to tip it as much. Unfortunately, he seemed to tip it even more than before. The faintly yellow nectar ran out of her mouth. Sandy licked it up. It took a long time, along with some very cute pleadings, to get her to drink it. The DigiDestined had decided to leave by the time they were done. "Thank you, Flame," she whispered, closing her eyes to sleep.

He nodded. A stray bit of hair fell into her eyes; he brushed it away, noting the soft feeling of it. He saw the short, braided cord from which the crystal he'd given her hung. It was made of dark red, yellow, and light-ish blue thread. It looked like she'd braided it herself. He wondered why she had chosen those three particular colors. Sandy gave him a warning look when he tried to tell her she'd done a good job guarding her, a look that clearly read, 'I don't want your congratulations'. She couldn't growl or snap, but she could let him know that she didn't like him much. "Silly dog," he muttered. He fell asleep with his back to them both.

* * * Kristi * * * 

I'm not too sure what that stuff Flame gave me was, but it was really, really, _really_ sugary. It didn't completely cure me right away, but the pain went away almost completely by noon. That's also about the time Flame woke up. He either needed to go back to sleep, or else he looked really depressed. Since I wasn't sure which it was, I walked with him out to the rock on the edge of that cliff after breakfast. The warm noon sun made the rock extremely hard to sit on. I watched him for a moment, before deciding to ask what was wrong.

"Nothing," was his reply. I gave him a 'I know better' look.

"If it's nothing, then it's sure the biggest, most depressing 'nothing' ever. I've never seen you depressed."

"Then you must've been blind when you left." I smiled and told him that that time didn't count, because that time, he had a very good reason for being upset. "It's nothing. I guess yesterday wore me out." I could tell it was something else, but I didn't bother him about it. I rested my hand over his, giving him a quick, tight squeeze. He glanced at our hands, then looked at me. "Your hands are small."

"Yeah. But that just means I think yours are big." He grinned stupidly, but it was one of those cutely stupid grins. I laid back on the hard, hot rock. He copied me, placing his head next to mine. I smiled. I certainly enjoyed just being out here and doing absolutely nothing. I was half-asleep and perfectly content to stay put for the rest of the day.

Close to sunset, when the sky was turning golden and orange, he sat up. We'd been out there all day, just doing nothing, so it didn't surprise me that he sat up. I pushed myself into a half-sitting position. "It's really nice out here."

"Yeah," I agreed. He turned to look at me, smiled, then sighed in an almost sad way. "Hey, what's wrong?" I sat up completely now. The setting sun outlined his face. Even the slightest change in his expression was exaggerated. "Flame?" He looked at me again; he seemed about to cry. "Are you okay?"

"I was just thinking, that's all."

"Thinking? About what?"

"You."

"Listen, I know I'm a depressing person, but you don't have to exaggerate the fact." He laughed a bit, then looked right at my eyes.

"I was thinking about what happened the other day. I just now realized that it was my fault. Completely."

"What'd ya mean, 'your fault'? You never told me to eat those things."

"_But_, I didn't realize when you fell off. You didn't get hurt, did you?" I shook my head. "That's good. That's one less thing on my guilt list. But if I'd noticed when you fell, I could've stopped you from eating those berries."

"Maybe. But the Flymon could've attacked while you were busy. Then you'd be the one needing medical care. I learned not to play the 'if only' game; it goes nowhere. Nothing bad happened, so why bother?"

"You looked sick. I'm sick of seeing you sick." He made a faint smile and brushed his fingers against my face. I caught his hand and held it there. "You're really weird, you know it?"

"Why?"

"No particular reason. Just thought I'd let you know." I rolled my eyes and tapped my fingertips behind his blade. _He_ was the weird one, not me. "Cut that out." Smiling, I leaned against him and put both my arms around his waist, being careful to avoid his spines. The wind picked up and blew my loose hair around.

"Pffft! This hair of mine is always blowing in my face at the worst possible times," I complained as I pushed it behind my ears with one hand.

"I dunno, I think it looks pretty." He helped me get my hair under control, or what control you could have over my hair. Then, he learned his head on top of mine and ran the tips of his fingers through my hair. What really amazed me was that I never felt his claws scratch me. Not even the tiniest bit. I smiled to myself and dozed.

* * * 

By the times I woke up, the stars were out and shining bright and clear. Instead of sharpening all the outlines like the sunset did, they softened them. I tried to sit up, but Flame wouldn't let me. "Stay here," he begged. "Please?" I grinned and settled back down. "Let's have at least one good memory from this visit." I laughed, and for once my voice didn't turn hard and rough. "Besides, this might be the last night we have."

"What?" I sat up straight. "Why?"

"I'm going to ask Nariko to open a portal. I don't want you getting hurt because of me and my clumsiness."

"What? Since when were you clumsy?" I didn't want to talk about leaving.

"Since I first Digivolved. No, wait, since I first hatched. I don't know when it started."

"You are _not_ clumsy. And, didn't I say the 'if only' game was pointless? You had nothing to do with my getting poisoned, okay? You got the antidote, so nothing happened."

"What about your fall? Both of them were my fault."

"If you had your way, everything would be your fault! It already happened, you can't change it, nothing bad came of it, so quit beatin' yourself up over it." I stubbornly crossed my arms and glared at the horizon. I heard him sigh, then he leaned over against me.

"Look, I'm sorry if I'm making you mad, but I don't want you to be hurt. From what I've seen and heard, you've been through enough hurt already. So, I'm trying to keep you from being hurt again." I smiled to myself, then made him sit up.

"I know that. But, you don't realize what it's like, Flame. It's like I'll never get any privacy there. The whole time I was back there – especially at first – people wouldn't leave me alone. They wanted to know where I'd been. I tried to tell them, but they just thought I was in shock or something. Nobody listened, no matter what." I stood up, stretched, and put out my hand. "Well, if I gotta go, let's go."

"Not yet. Let's stay up here a little while longer. I like it." I sat down, happy that I didn't have to go right away. I'm good at ignoring things, so I didn't bother thinking about what I was _going_ to do. I couldn't think about what I was doing at that moment, because I wasn't _do_ing anything. So, I thought about everything we'd done up to that time. That gave me plenty to think about. "What's it like, over in America?"

"Crowded. At least, the cities are. Bumper to bumper traffic nearly all day, hardly a space between people, stuff like that. And noisy. It's really noisy. I live a little ways outside the city, though, so it's not so bad."

"It doesn't sound all that different from Japan."

"Believe me, if everything this Anime-obsessed girl at my lunch table says is true, it's very different. At least with the mindset. The land's probably not too different, but then, to me, land is land is land is land, no matter where it is." That was about the most interesting thing we ever said. I'm not too sure what time it was when Sandy came bounding up to us, but it couldn't've been too long before dawn.

"Hey!"

"Sandy, what'd you come out here for? Did you get worried?" I asked her. She wedged herself between Flame and me again, but this time she growled if he even tried to touch either of us. "What's gotten into you?" She nipped my wrist when I stretched my arm across her, and I popped her nose. "You're a very jealous mutt, aren't you?"

"She must be _really_ jealous if she's biting you. I don't think she likes me very much." I looked hard at Sandy and told her I'd get her hairs if she didn't move. That old trick worked; she moved. Not happily, but she did move. We made it impossible for her to push her way in again. I fell asleep when that game got too old and boring for me.

* * * 

I felt sad as we stood up and left. I knew that soon I'd have to leave. '_Not again,_' I told myself. '_You can't leave like this again._' My hand brushed against Flame's as we walked; he caught it in a tight hold. "Do you think…do you think the portal will ever open again?"

"Portals open and close all the time. Maybe one will open in front of you again. I hope it does. Maybe after all this mess is cleared up, you can come back and stay. I'd like that." I nodded. I'd like it, too, even though I might not be able to reopen it and see my family when I wanted to.

Nariko stood expectantly outside the entrance to her cave. "I know what he said, so I'll hurry and open it."

"I didn't want to make a big deal out of it," he explained, looking at me. "I'll miss you, Kristi-_chan_." I barely ever heard what he put after my name, so I don't know if he always called me that or not. I wouldn't know what to expect, either. "Take care of her, Sandy, or else I'll have to get your hairs!" I laughed, then hugged him tightly. The comforting warmth I felt around him was still there. My eyes were wet, but I didn't mind.

"'I wish I could stay longer, but I know I have to go'. That's a quote from an old poem. _Sayonara_, Flame, and thank you."

"For what?"

"Being one of the few people that really cares for me." We both smiled, each of us knowing that the other was about to cry if we didn't hurry. I walked inside, picked up my jacket and ponytail holder, then looked at the tiny portal that Nariko had opened. Flame tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, then pulled me against him. I returned the embrace, then stepped back and took hold of Sandy's collar.

"_Sayonara_."

"_Sayonara_, Flamedra-_kun_." I stepped backwards, pulling Sandy against me as we entered the portal.


End file.
